How to attract your ideal Gen Z employees with a brilliant job advert
Writing a job description is tricky for the simplest of roles, and Gen Z job hunters aren’t easily impressed. While it’s true that some job hunters click the apply button anytime they see it, we all know that the best job hunters – the ones you want to attract – are picky.
So if you’re going to coax them into sending you their CV, you’ll need to meet their standards. We already discovered that young job hunters are looking for certain information in every job advert, but there’s more to it than that.
So if you’re already including info on salary, benefits and progression and still aren’t having much luck, we know why.
To attract a great Gen Z job searcher you need to speak like one.
You might already know the difference between a job advert and a job description, so looking at the example below might be confusing. We’re generally told that job adverts are shorter, snappier and more sales-y than job descriptions.
We’ve trialled a few different ways of writing our job adverts – which we push out across all major job boards – and have found what works and what doesn’t.
Originally, our adverts were half the size of the one below. They didn’t mention the role requirements and were build to get as many people as possible applying. But we found that with Gen Z applicants, this method doesn’t work.
The best job hunters don’t want to waste their time applying for irrelevant jobs, so they pay attention to requirements, benefits and all of the little details. Gen Z candidates tend to also look for companies that mirror their beliefs, focusing on meaningful work and social good above all else.
So to attract your ideal Gen Z employees, you need to give great, exciting information while focusing on generating that excitement.
How to write a great job advert to attract Gen Z employees:
- Try not to use jargon, acronyms or specialist terms – plain English will do.
- Explain your company mission in simple terms – Gen Z job hunters tend to want to know who they are working for.
- Get excited – use enegetic language ot talk about the role.
- Be specific – mention the pay rate and any projected increases and promotions.
- Mention company culture – what’s it like to work with you and within your team?
Job advert basics
Here is an outline to help you create an excellent job advert to attract new Gen Z employees.
Introduction
Your introduction needs a few elements to really work:
- Basic and exciting information about your company.
- Basic and exciting information about the job.
- Second person pronouns – ‘you’ not ‘they’.
Role overview
A role overview goes into more detail about the day-to-day responsibilities and tasks. It will usually mention:
- The title of the person that the new hire will report to.
- The top skills they will need and why.
- Any main priority tasks that someone in this role does.
- What this role means for the company and why it’s essential.
- Where the role is based and what it’s like to work in your team.
Responsibilities
This section is easy and can usually be copy and pasted from the job description:
- List the day-to-day responsibilities of someone in this role.
- Use exciting language if you can.
Must-haves
This is another easy section, but try to keep the role requirements at the bare minimum. Ask yourself, does someone in this role need a degree? Do they need years of experience?
Benefits
Benefits are crucial, but if you’re a relatively new startup you might not have many to list. We recommend adding any information you can about salary, company laptops and phones, bank holidays if you don’t work them, team social events, training and development opportunities and flexible working if you offer it!
End line
Your end line should entice people to click the apply button just like any regular job advert. But we recommend going the extra mile and mentioning when applicants can expect to hear back from you.
Example job advert
We’re looking for a confident junior for a new Account Executive role with a leading recruitment platform! We help small businesses find and hire their ideal junior candidates, but we need YOU to chat with job hunters and help them prepare for interviews.
This is a vital role as we really believe in adding a human touch to recruitment – helping clients and job hunters is what we do. You’ll become the face of the business and play an important part in helping job hunters find their dream role, so we’re looking for a happy, chatty candidate first and foremost!
Role overview:
You’ll work alongside our friendly Account Manager and help them find the perfect candidates for every job. Your role will heavily rely on your communication skills as you’ll be picking up the phone and building relationships with job hunters every day.
Excellent listening skills are key to match job hunters to the right vacancies, but we’re also looking for strong organisational skills as this role has an administration element too!
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fast-growing startup and make a real difference in people’s lives! You’ll learn on the go and have the opportunity to advance into a client-facing Account Manager role after a few months.
This is a remote role but our team meets every month in Brighton to have a big meeting and lots of food and cocktails. Coming in person is optional, but most of our team travels down for this and it’s always a fun event!
Responsibilities:
- Help the Account Manager set up interviews, send out candidate assessments, ask screening questions, send feedback and close roles.
- Screen role shortlists for relevant candidates and politely reject anyone unsuitable.
- Ring candidates to tell them more about vacancies, help them prepare for interviews and listen to their employment needs.
- Help us post job adverts and respond to messages on the platform and on social media.
After a few months:
- You’ll take on clients to manage directly, performing job discovery calls, setting up new roles, screening candidates, arranging a shortlist, keeping up-to-date with feedback and securing a successful placement.
Must-haves:
- Great organisational skills
- Fantastic communication skills and a friendly nature
- Excellent written English
Benefits:
- Starting salary of £20,000 with a review after your first 12 months
- 4-day work week
- A day off for your birthday and bank holidays
If you’re interested in recruitment and want to kick-start your career in Account Management, what are you waiting for? Apply today and we’ll get back to you within 5 working days.
What’s next?
Now that you have an idea of what kind of job advert would excite a great Gen Z job hunter, get to writing one! We recommend starting with a basic job description and building your advert from there.
Next comes getting it seen. Whether you prefer to post your job adverts on Indeed, LinkedIn or Facebook, get it out! And if you still struggle to source applicants, you might need to put some money behind it.
We promote your job adverts across every major job board to ensure that your ideal job hunters find your role and hit apply. If you want to delegate the sourcing and screening of applicants to the experts, you know where to find us.